Anyone lost money on log homes?

[bplummer]

I'm thinking of attending one of the classes, and if building this style log home is as good as the website makes it seem, I may consider building for profit and for my own home. Has anyone gone into business building these homes? It seems like it could be quite a success. Has anyone heard anyone losing money?

[Basil]

My personal view on this is that if you're going into it to make money you're not going to get rich. I know that website makes it sound otherwise. The beauty of this style is that you can build your own home and live there without a mortgage. You learn how to do things cheaper than a regular builder can do things. If you become a regular builder these things won't work anymore. Most of us built the home that WE want. Then, if somebody comes along with a wheelbarrow full of cash and wants it too, we can sell.

I know a few people that have sold these homes at handsome proffits. I've never heard of somebody selling for a loss. But, people don't tend to brag about losing money, either. There's no motive to sell at a loss, because if you do it the way you're taught you have a mortgage free home and you can live there without paying a bank every month. Why sell that at a loss?

Think more about how to get the first one built and less about how many you might be able to build. Remember, a journey of a thousand miles ....

[bplummer]

thanks a lot for the good advice. the website does make it sound like you could make a lot of money building these homes. i figured that even if i couldnt make money off them, that living without a mortgage in i house that i built would be reason enough to go to the seminar.

[hawkiye]

Several have built for profit. I am building my first for profit. I just bought the land. There is no reason you can't make a good profit. You simply need to count the cost ahead of time as you would any spec home. I estimate I will make at a minimun $100,000 and probably much more

Some considerations are how fast do you want to build. if you build for profit you of course want to be done ASAP so you can sell.

The first home will go slower as you learn the ins and outs.

In order to go faster do you want to sub crontract out a lot of the work like plumbing, electrical and foundation etc.? This of course will cut into your profit but may not be significant enough to be a problem, you have to weigh cost againt time etc.

For me I will be doing most or all of the work because of my budget. The cost of the land pretty much determined that. I have a long construction background so that helps but there are a few areas I don't have a lot of experience in. Like electrical and plumbing. I have done some but will be learning some as I go with the help of some good books and possible a retired uncle

Taking the class will be well worth the money and will give you the confidence to go ahead and build if you don't have it already. You'll learn some tricks of the trade (some especially unique to this style building other that will work for any kind of building) that will be invaluable. Best of all you will learn how to do it as cheap as possible.

When I first came acrosss the web site and considered taking the class I scoured the net to see what people were saying about it figuring there always has to be some dissatisfied folks along with the pro folks. But I could not find a single person who has taken the class and regretted it. I figure it is some of the best money I ever spent.

You have nothing to loose with the money back garuntee. And you will not find a more fantastic Log home then Skips place, the pictures on the web site don't do it justice in my opinion ( hint to Ellsworth and Steve Take some new photos ) ;)

Blayne

[akemt]

My husband and I are planning to do this...eventually! First we need to be mortgage-free, though (what we're currently working on). Then free of a land loan and THEN we'll move on to making our millions. ;) LOL

Anyway, the reason I'm responding is that there are a few other things to consider. Things like health insurance (a big one in our book with a young family that we don't feel is complete yet) and other logistical issues that might arise if you quit your job before having a large stash of cash. We've already started on our trek to being mortgage-free but figure that it'll be another 5+ years before we're where dh can actually leave his 9-5 job. Though we hope it will be sooner!

One other avenue we're considering, to make life easier monitarily while on this trek, is to build a rental on our lot. A rental cabin or attatched apartment, while a pain in some ways, would pay our monthly land-loan payment plus some.

Well, then there's my husband's research into alternative fuel and fuel-free energy...just one more way to get out from under "big brother."

Another factor is the market in the area in which you plan to build. Homes here go pretty easily, and with the right lot a log home would be THAT much more likely to sell fast and with a good price. Alaska forest and ocean + log home = perfection. But, not everyone wants a log home. It is a niche market, though a well-priced one. The other good thing for us is that despite the free timber here, there are very few log homes. One way in which we are thinking we'll avoid the market issue is that we'll keep ourselves open to doing a steel-frame or stick-built home now and then...or simply space our log homes out enough in mileage and time to sell well.

I honestly can't see loosing money on a log home of this type (and I haven't taken the class yet) as long as you don't have a loan on it and build it well. Alot of work, but IMO, worth the pay-off!

Best wishes and good luck!

[cowfire]

I know of 1 guy who bought a bunch of logs, peeled half of them, then gave up. But that is 1 guy out of almost 100 that I personally know or have very good knowledge of, and this guy was kinda lazy anyway. The obvious way to make the most $$ is to do most of the work yourself. The only problem with this is I will guarantee it will take you more time than you think, I GUARANTEE, this doesn't have to be a bad thing, just be aware of it, and plan some contingencies in case you need extra $$ AND/OR TIME.

[ChainsawGrandpa]

One early member said he didn't get a lot of the home done. If I
remember right he didn't even get the roof on. He was into it for
$500 and was offered a handsome profit. He was simply "forced"
to sell. I followed the "how to's" and my property has always been
below market. Same for my materials. My last property was a 400%
profit, and the present one will be 100%. YMMV!!!

I'm sure it can be easy to lose money, but if you follow the class
instructions, and finish the home you may have a very hard time
losing money.
Look at the early homes that Skip built. When you spend a few
thousand dollars on a home you really just can't lose money.

About 2 - 3 years ago I saw a lot in an area I am very familiar with.
For some reason it was $3,000! That same area has 1/2 million
dollar mini cabins. I could have bought (land poor at that time) and
spent a total of $30,000 for land, water, home, etc. and made my
money back at least four times.

My biggest suggestions are:
*Take the class.
*Pay attention in class.

The rest is pretty simple. As Skip says; "Hey, it's just stacking wood".

-Rick